Mason  🏃‍♂️ ✂️

The most popular conspiracy theory in the US today is that American wealth is the result of a steady cabalistic transfer of extant wealth from the poor and middle class to "like 10 people" at the "tippy top." It's provably false but will define the next several election cycleshttps://twitter.com/AOC/status/1127270688925134849 …

Take a look at what AOC is pointing out: for-profit prisons, student loans, "tricking the country into war," abusing food stamp programs. Notice a theme? Prisons are a product for governments. Rich people do not declare wars or issue food stamps. Student loans are backed by whom?

The trap I *don't* want to fall into is claiming that all is well. Wages have stagnated while healthcare and higher ed pricing skyrocketed, and both systems are regulatory fortresses. Regulatory capture via licensure and accreditation is locking in profit for the current players

The healthcare/education monster is unavoidably a private interest + government collaboration. Moreover, the collaboration has grown so complex and labyrinthian that it's unclear how to attack it. And it's moot anyway, unless it sounds better than "boo yachts, free college!"

Here's what worries me: whether via a punitive income tax bracket or a wealth tax, you're hitting a group that contains some game-players and many more value-creators. If you don't first solve the regulatory capture issue, you funnel the gains straight back to the game-players.

If we bet on a policy as aggressive as Warren's wealth tax, it'd become nearly impossible for ultra-successful entrepreneurs to maintain controlling stakes in their own companies over 1-2 decades. It should not be controversial to say this would be disastrous for the US economy.

Can you say more about why this would be disastrous for the economy? It's not obvious to me.